Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a building with a 12th-century lower tower and a 15th-century main body, situated within Castle Park, Bristol. It is a building of group value. The church is constructed from pennant rubble with limestone ashlar dressings, and is now an open shell without a roof or glazing.

The architectural style is Early Perpendicular Gothic. The east end was rebuilt in about 1950 using plain rubble. The south aisle has a five-light east window with alternate tracery. The north aisle is of seven bays, articulated by buttresses, with a deep plinth. It features small 15th-century four- and two-light cinquefoil-headed windows in the east bay, an octagonal rood stair tower against the buttress of the second bay, and a large chamfered bullseye window in the middle bay. The sixth bay is windowless, with further five-light windows in the remaining bays. An arched doorway in the west bay has shafts with polygonal moulded capitals set within a continuous casement moulding adorned with Tudor flowers, and an arch constructed of sandstone voussoirs.

The south aisle is broader, featuring six bays with wide five-light windows between buttresses, and a late Perpendicular east window, blind below a transom. The west ends of the aisles are gabled, with a narrow three-light window with mullions topping the arch on the north side, and a five-light window on the south. A large, square, unbuttressed three-stage tower, flush with the aisles, has a wide doorway with three orders separated by hollow mouldings, below a rubble relieving arch. There’s a three-light window above, and a small two-light flat-headed window to the second stage. The belfry has a two-light louvred window, a cornice with gargoyles on the corners, and a crenellated parapet with crocketed pinnacles.

The interior is roofless and undecorated, containing a three-bay arcade on the north side, with stairs to the rood. A broad south aisle features windows that span the width of the bays, sharing a half-round shaft. The base of the tower and arcades are reinforced with concrete.

Historical records indicate that excavations in 1975 suggest the site held Bristol’s first church; the 12th-century city wall runs under the west end of the current church. The building was severely damaged in the Second World War and preserved as a ruin by the City, with concrete reinforcement added in 1974.